Contemporary history of the Sikhs in the last four decades has still to put the record straight as far as the role of the nationalistic Indian media is concerned. The Indian media's reporting of holding the Sikhs responsible for all went wrong and singing praises of the army and the administration was seen during the barbaric attack on Darbar Sahib in June 1984. Hundreds upon thousands of extrajudicial encounters were reported with only the police version in the past two decades.

The mindset chooses to stay where it is. Last week, we were once again witness to such role by the media. At the solemn release function of the Directory of Martyrs, hundreds of familiy members –widows, aged parents, aged grand parents, young children of martyrs, were present in Bhai Gurdas Hall at Amritsar. Sikh leadership from various organisations were also present. The event should have been an eye-opener. The journalists, who had prior knowledge of the event should have carried out a deeper probe through people-based stories.

But the "free" Indian media imposes self-censorship on itself even while reporting news. Sticking to its old habits vis-a-vis the Sikh nation, the media blacked-out the event. There was no news in the English dailies the following day. This is not only unethical but a dangerous journalistic trend.

We expect the India media to follow the ideals of Guru Teg Bahadur, who laid down his life to protect "the right of the Hindus to practice their religion". The Indian media will do well to follow the advice of French philosopher and thinker, Voltaire (Francois Marie Arouet) who said, “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.”